Skanda Purana — Prabhasa Khanda, Shloka 35
विकृता विकृताकारा असंख्याता महाबलाः । रुद्रेण प्रेरितान्दृष्ट्वा वीरभद्रपुरोगमान्
vikṛtā vikṛtākārā asaṃkhyātā mahābalāḥ | rudreṇa preritāndṛṣṭvā vīrabhadrapurogamān
Ils étaient difformes, aux silhouettes tordues, innombrables et d’une force immense — envoyés par Rudra, avec Vīrabhadra en tête.
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator within Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya)
Tirtha: Prabhāsa-kṣetra (frame)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Pilgrimage audience
Scene: A vast, surging army of pramathas—misshapen, many-armed, animal-faced, ash-smeared—fills the horizon; at their head strides Vīrabhadra, blazing-eyed, weapon raised, unstoppable.
FAQs
The divine can manifest terrifying corrective power; fierce forms arise to protect dharma when sacred order is mocked.
Prabhāsa-kṣetra is the Māhātmya’s sacred frame, within which this well-known Shaiva episode is narrated.
None; the verse describes the forces mobilized to end an adharma-tainted yajña.